Sandwich girls hockey begins the year with 4-2 win over young Barnstable squad

Douglas P. Bradstreet

Wednesday

Jan 1, 2020 at 9:26 PMJan 2, 2020 at 6:28 AM

HYANNIS — Not long ago, the Sandwich Blue Knights girls hockey team was in a similar situation to the one the Barnstable Red Raiders find themselves in this year.

The Blue Knights sent a young team to the ice in years past, laden with eighth graders and freshmen who wereonly beginning to acclimate to varsity high school hockey.

This year, Barnstable fields eight eighth graders, as well as a few freshmen and sophomores, all in the process of starting to understand the upper level game they’ve stepped into.

Junior Maura McIver and senior captain Anna Goodwin showed how far Sandwich’s underclassmen have come, as McIver had a goal and an assist and Goodwin aided the Blue Knights’ final goal in a 4-2 Cape & Islands League win over the Red Raiders at Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Memorial Ice Rink on Wednesday.

“That’s a good young team over there,” Sandwich assistant coach Billy Ferreira, son of longtime Falmouth boys hockey coach Buddy Ferreira said of Barnstable. “A lot of eighth graders. They play hard. It's tough to win consistently with eighth graders. We had it five years ago, the seniors now. I give them all the credit in the world, they played hard.”

A pair of Barnstable’s underclassmen knotted the game at 2-all with 10:29 to play, as sophomore Laura Cogswell aided eighth grader Finley Crosby.

“I think we’re learning as we go,” Barnstable coach Peter Nugnes said. “We play eight eighth graders. I don’t know if any other team on the Cape does that. Most we’ve ever had was two at one time. Not that it's an excuse, because our eighth graders are really talented. If anything it's more of a learning curve.”

McIver has already navigated that learning curve for the Blue Knights, and knocked home passes from sophomore Paige Hawkins and eighth grader Meghan Barrett just 23 seconds after Crosby’s goal to put Sandwich (4-2, 2-0 Cape & Islands) back on top.

Senior captain Rachel Brooks added an insurance goal for the visitors with 3:19 to play, off a pass from Goodwin.

“I just thought we played really well as a team today,” Goodwin said. “We’ve been struggling with that and we all came together and put some pucks in the net like we need to do.”

Barnstable (3-2-1, 2-1-1 C&I) put the puck in the net first, with Cogswell slotting home a shot just inside the left post of Sandwich’s net.

The Blue Knights came right back, netting two goals over a 1:01 span to take a 2-1 lead after a period.

Hawkins tied the game 53 seconds after Cogswell’s goal, off an assist from McIver, before freshman Olivia O’Brien put Sandwich on top 1:01 later from a pass from senior captain Kileigh Holt.

The Blue Knights have plenty of young players of their own, particularly in net, with freshman Sophia Visceglio.

“I can’t say enough about my goalie, Sophia. She’s only a ninth grader. She’s solid,” Ferreira said. “I coached with my father in Falmouth for a lot of years. She’s got a great goalie IQ, boys or girl. I’d put her up against that.”

Barnstable senior captain Annika Pasic, eighth grader Penny Baroni and Cogswell all had quality shots at Visceglio’s net in the early periods, with Crosby, junior Kate Brewster, Cogswell, Pasic and eighth grader Claire Hazard all sending the puck Visceglio’s way in the third period.

The freshman goalie held them off.

“I think we all showed up to play today,” Visceglio said. “And I think we just all worked together as a team. I just worked great.”

Goodwin agreed.

“Sophia in net did wicked good,” Goodwin said.

Coach Ferreira was pleased with how well his team played.

“We had a mindset that we’ve played more games, more tested and we weren’t gonna lose,” Ferreira said. “So it was a big league game.”

Goodwin sees improvement in 2020 for Sandwich.

“I think we’re definitely gonna get better,” Goodwin said. “I think since we’ve been playing together for so long we really know how each other works on the ice, so that’s pretty good.”

Visceglio also thinks the Blue Knights are “pretty good.”

“We all get along I think,” Visceglio said. “That’s what makes it fun. That’s why I just love coming to all the practices, games. Everyone just has a lot of grit. I love this year. It’s like the best year.”

Good things are on horizon for Barnstable as well, Nugnes feels.

“Everyone gets along super on the team” Nugnes said. “I think by the end of the year we're gonna be where we need to be and if we can make the tournament, we may surprise some people.”

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